


if we can be found

by WhyDontWeBegin



Series: As I Fall [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: (this is nothing new or unusual), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, But Haven left Ishgard with the others and Zephirin is stuck with the rude one, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Mild Angst, Mild spoilers for Heavensward content, Multi, Set some point in heavensward following the trial by combat, These three deserve soft things, Zephirin contemplates his lot in life, acceptance of feelings, aka his two lizard girlfriends that he struggles to fathom, haven is soft, im not even kidding this poor man doesn’t understand, kura is angry and sad, the timeline here is lowkey ambiguous tbh, why yes I DO happen to like polygamy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 08:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20543279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyDontWeBegin/pseuds/WhyDontWeBegin
Summary: While Haven is away, Zephirin contemplates his newfound lot in life. And possibly more importantly, the women that it involves, especially the worrying Dark Knight that has taken up residence in his chambers.





	if we can be found

**Author's Note:**

> Ok?? So?? I wrote this one forever ago, too, but I’ve been editing it the last few days but please forgive me for this self-indulgent dumpsterfire of a ship?? Kura just, like, keeps eating up things when i write her because she’s just gAH and it really wasn’t supposed to have fluff in it but it just kinda wrote itself, really

When Zephirin first saw the two, he almost mistook them for twins.

The more rational part of his mind protested that it was coincidence, their horns and scales were opposing colors. That same part also noticed that striking shade of red on each of their fingers, starkly sticking out against the dark armor of the dark-scaled one (it stuck out on the other’s lighter armor as well, but only because of the blue-silver color it was). That made him do a double take— and made him feel sick. They were Auri— dragon kin. Why would the Twelve tie him to them? Why would Halone _let_ them? It went against everything he believed in, every standard he had lived by.

He didn’t even begin to understand until he saw what Haven was able to do— or, perhaps more accurately, how far she was willing to go. Even knowing she was no healer, knowing that it could _kill_ her, the Paladin didn’t think twice about healing half the Brume, even with her dwindling supply of aether. She had done it without a second of hesitation, like an angel sent by Halone herself, even with her scales. She had staggered, collapsed, and he couldn’t help himself when he stepped forth to catch her.

And then- then, there was Kura.

The Xaela was haunted. It reflected in her eyes, in the set of her shoulders, in her stance. Sometimes, Zephirin could hear it in her voice, sounding hollow and bitter and in more pain than he could bring himself to think about. Sometimes, he could _feel_ it, could feel her self-hatred and her _pain_ when she looked at him in his armor, could feel her sorrow when she saw him and Haven talking, like it reminded her of something she’d lost. Could feel just how much _guilt_ was weighing on her shoulders and eventually he decided that it was for the best he didn’t know why. But he did know, without a single doubt, that Kura would do anything, anything, for Haven, and possibly for Zephirin himself.

In a way, that fact scared him, that she wouldn’t hesitate for a single moment. But, perhaps, that wasn’t the true source of his fear.

Perhaps it was that she was a Dark Knight. Bathed in blood and hatred and darkness, but she prayed to the Fury as she prayed to the gods of her homeland. Kura was a monster on the battlefield— or so he had seen at the trial by combat, until she’d grown angry and scared and desperate and he had felt suffocated under the weight of her emotions while her grief bled into the building and the people watching. Zephrin didn’t understand how she could be so cruel and heartless, yet also so gentle and kind and considerate. He didn’t understand the grief in her eyes when she looked at him, like he was something she’d lost and now that he was before her she wouldn’t let him go. He couldn’t fathom the depths of her pain, why or how she, who had clearly once been a healer and a protector, had become so hurt and angry and bitter and _broken_ with her heart bleeding out for all to see but held close to her chest as though to protect it from further harm. Couldn’t understand why she fought his fellow Heavensward like a broken, injured, raging beast, completely out of control, yet touched him like he was made of glass, would shatter or vanish at any moment with trembling fingers.

Honestly, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to.

But stepping into his chambers, seeing her blade propped up against the wall next to where he always left his own, the fire burning in the background and the warmth of the room bleeding into his skin as he removed his armor piece by piece, Zephirin smiled. Seeing the mess of strawberry blonde hair loose on the pillows, Kura’s lithe, small form hidden under the blankets, he decided it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because she would tell him, tell Haven, if and when she was ready to. Running his fingers through her hair and watching as she shifted in her sleep towards his touch as he sat there on the edge of the bed, he felt that seed of fondness beginning to sprout deep in his heart. Zephirin couldn’t bring himself to squash it.


End file.
